Nation at crossroads over talks with Taliban

The News Wednesday, September 18, 2013 From Print Edition KARACHI: The nation has buried its brave Major-General Sanaullah and two other Army men who were martyred in a terrorist attack in the backdrop of Taliban’s admitting the responsibility of the gruesome act, said Kamran Khan in his programme ‘Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Sath’ on Monday. In the wake of the terrorist act, the nation is at a crossroads. The nation and its leaders have to decide whether talks are held with the Taliban or whether the time has come for a decisive war. Kamran Khan said that at the time of the funeral prayers of the three martyrs, a resolve has emerged that the nation is not to bow before the terrorists. The decision is to be taken by the nation, and if the time for war has indeed come then the nation knows that the Pakistan Army is fully prepared for it. The Taliban, while admitting responsibility for the terrorist act, also said that they don’t want any kind of a ceasefire. Kamran Khan said that government’s apathy had emerged before the martyrdom of Major-General Sanaullah and two others when the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the governor of the province secured the release of kidnapped Wapda men who had been kidnapped at the Gomal Zam Dam and the government paid a ransom of Rs25 million to the kidnappers. Commenting on the governor of Sindh, Kamran Khan said that there is confusion over who is the governor of Sindh at the moment, who will remain the governor or who will become the governor of Sindh. He said that the uncertain situation emerged after the Governor of Sindh, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad, all of a sudden, proceeded to Dubai amid reports that he had dispatched his resignation to President Mamnoon Hussain just before he left Karachi. The background to the resignation is attributed to the conversation the governor had had with the leadership of the MQM in which the governor felt as if the MQM leadership’s confidence in him is waning and the governor thought that the best course of action before him was to resign and leave Karachi for Dubai. Kamran Khan said that it is being said that the federal government has received the resignation but the government believes that if the governor of Sindh is to be an MQM person then Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad is the best person, but it also depends on whether the MQM too has its full confidence in Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad or not. If the MQM confidence in Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad has waned then there is a likelihood that the new governor of Sindh will not be from the MQM. Kamran Khan said that the MQM leadership is indicating its full confidence in Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad, but at the same time they say that if Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad continues as governor then he should have a say in the decision-making process and he should not be a ceremonial governor only. Commenting on Karachi operation, Kamran Khan said that the operation is progressing smoothly, and that one feels a marked difference in Karachi situation these days. In a different segment of the programme, Kamran Khan said that the federal information minister has pointed out over the weekend that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, and the Army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, have not given any application for extension in their terms, nor has thegovernment given any indication in this regard. A leader of the PPP, Qamar Zaman Kaira, said in the programme that though the peace talks have suffered a setback in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on a major-general of the Pakistan Army, the armed forces and the government have exercised tolerance and they have done the right thing. Kaira advised the government not to give up the option of talks. ANP leader, Zahid Khan, said that the government is emphasising on the option of talks whereas the Taliban are still striking. He said it looks like we have lost the war against Taliban. Jamaat-e-Islami chief, Munawar Hasan, said in the programme that his party’s agenda is to follow the decisions taken at the all-parties conference. If these decisions are not implemented it will simply mean that those who want to sabotage talks have succeeded. Munawar Hasan said that the incident of martyrdom of the major-general and two others is a very tragic thing. A leader of Tehreek-e-Insaf, Asad Omar, said in the programme that the government-Taliban talks can only succeed when both sides exhibit sincerity of purpose, but when one side picks up the gun and aims it at the state of Pakistan then negotiations just have no chance of succeeding. Senior journalist Salim Safi said in the programme that a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Shahidullah Shahid, had telephoned him at 2 in the afternoon and he (Shahidullah Shahid) informed him about the Shoora’s decisions on talks with the government. The spokesman also informed Safi that the Tehreek-e-Taliban accepts responsibility of the Dir incident and that the attack was carried out by the Swat chapter of the Tehreek-e-Taliban which is headed by Maulana Fazlullah. In response to a question by Salim Safi when the TTP is demanding CBM (confidence building measures) of the government then why have they been indulging in such acts, Shahidullah Shahid said that their war is on and that there has not been any ceasefire so far. Shahidullah Shahid also said that since the war was started by the Pakistan government therefore the ceasefire initiative must also be taken by the Pakistan government. Host of the popular Geo News programme ‘FIR’, Fahim Siddiqi, said in the programme that he has not noticed any marked improvement in Karachi situation. Nevertheless, due to the targeted operation by the Rangers the graph of incidents of targeted killings has definitely gone down, but the rate of incidents of extortions, kidnappings for ransom and street crimes has not changed too much.